KRAMER FOCUS VT-211S! I've Seen Fake Humbuckers, BUT FAKE SINGLE COILS? Yes, I know Gibson Owns it!
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
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Kramer Focus VT-211S, Ruby Red
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i know Gibson owns Kramer I am just an idiot and kept saying Fender lol
It's funny, when I saw the title bashing Gibson, my first thought was "Umm, Fender own Kramer, right?"
I'm an idiot too it's ok 😂
I was just getting ready to tell you that but saw your comment. 😂😅
Was about to say something that effect 👍
Lol
I bought one a while back and made it a project, it was like $120. I ordered all new wiring, 5 way, pots (1 push pull), and output jack from stewmac, SD JB in the bridge, and SCs out of a Mexican Strat, Gotoh tremolo system, D'Addario locking tuners, schaller Strap Locks, black neck plate, black back plate, and black hardware. I got the blue/teal one, kept it blue but sanded some parts down where you can see raw wood with a little bit of staining. So it's like teal blue with some raw wood and black stain, white pick guard, aged white single coils, and everything else black. It was my first project that I actually completed lol. I am pleased with how it sounds and the way it came out. Only other mod I may think of doing is swapping the neck. I wish I could post a picture to show you before and after pictures.
Sounds great.
@@garettoverstreet Thank you!
How much did you spend upgrading it?
@@timmooney7528 Probably between 400 - 500. First jb wasn't fspaced, first tuners I bought were fender, you have to drill holes to get them to fit which sucked, so I got the D'adds. Bought extra wiring and pots. Total into the guitar probably like 300-400 but probably spent a total of 400 - 500 over time. I slowly worked on it over a couple of months.
Kramer is a brand name currently owned by Gibson. The serial number says this guitar was made in August of '22 in factory 13, which is a Gibson-owned facility in Qingdao (ching'-dow), China that's dedicated mainly to building Epiphones.
Kramers used to be very high end guitars. Bodies and necks were made by ESP Japan. All hardware were from Germany. First guitars with a Floyd Rose.
Thanks for selling me this guitar Shawn! I am excited to use as a gift for someone! I will mod it like you suggested. It already has super low action thanks to you. Looks like you changed out the original nut that didn't go all the way to end of fretboard. Fun meeting you!
These remind me of Gibson’s Henry J. and the adopted daughter, andno blood relation Janie Hendrix (she only met Jimi for a total of 20 minutes) attempt to make “S-Style Guitar, cheap Transistor Amp, Jimi style headband strap, etc. beginners set that fans gave Henry J. and Corporate Gibson Hell over. “Authentic Hendrix LLC, a “Jimi Hendrix Family”Company, announced the introduction of three branded Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Packages as part of an exclusive agreement between the Gibson Guitar Corp. and Authentic Hendrix properties.” Almost as popular as the Baldwin Authentic Hendrix Piano of early 2000s…Which cost $168k or about $320k in today’s money-more expensive than a house then and now, and more expensive than a couple of top of the line Steinway Grands.
Thank you for info on more exploits of opportunist Janey.
Kluson's "Plus-Series" tuners are a drop-in replacement for the cheap 2-diagonal-screw tuners, and a great upgrade for an otherwise decent guitar.
That headstock shape is Kramer's Classic "Beak" headstock. I have the same shaped headstock on my Kramer Pacer Classic Series.
15:18 Yes Sir!
With that Quarter Sawn Mahogany, an the decent guitar bones to work with sorta sits at $200 in today's money. Might be a lil weak but it'd be decent for a beginner. Change pick ups later, change tuners later it'd be a really decent guitar. $200 don't get much from the grocery store, i'd be pleased to own something like that even if it is Weak an plays like it's slightly underwater.. I could upgrade it to be better later on when I save up.
Kramer has had the “Beak” headstock since the beginning almost but they’re more known for their banana and hockey stick headstocks but they’ve had the beak forever and it’s a decent looking function over form shape I guess. I used to not really like it but then I started seeing all these awesome Shur guitars and the Kramer beak is very similar in my opinion.
Any headstock shape is preferable to the usual hockey stick.
The hole under the neck plate is so they can put multiple bodys on a rod and hang them in a drying room, or at least what I was told .
I get excited every time you take a guitar apart, work on it and put it back together, especially when you install new parts. Your honest reviews and workmanship are priceless. TY.
I have a Kramer bass I bought in 1978 new, I think I paid 1200 bucks for it, I have never taken apart the pickups, they say Kramer on the cover,it has an aluminum I beam neck with Schaller machine head's, I think the following year they started putting DiMarzio pickups on Kramer
There is also a Kramer Assault a single cut LP style that I hear are really good guitars.
Cool. I have that in grey I moded it out. Locking tuners, new black pick guard. It also comes in purple
Great vid, as always! I gotta say - back when I bought this model, the pickups were weak, the tremolo was junk and the tuners were the worst mankind's ever seen... But I loved that flat radius satin neck and could play that all day long! Made mine a single p-90 Strat with all Wilkinson hardware and a big block tremolo - and the guy that bought it off me made it one of his regular stage guitars!
I have been playing acoustic for over a quarter century. I noticed that you took the relief out of the neck and made it perfectly flat. I do NOT know if there is more AMPLITUDE to an acoustic guitar string when it is plucked, but on my acoustics, I ALWAYS put a little bit of a bow in my necks so that the string does NOT buzz against the middle frets when I pluck it.
I'm gonna attempt to teach an old dog a new trick here. Try leveling the frets and setting the curve of your bridge to match the fret board radius. then you won't need a bow in the neck to stop buzzing. And it will play 100 times better without that uneven string height along the neck. Promise.
@@scarmyguitar Thanks for the advice. I was a COMPLETE beginner when I bought my 1st acoustic guitar. I played it for YEARS, before I even KNEW that one could adjust it. I got blisters and then had hard callouses hanging off of every finger of my left hand! I may be an "Old Dog," but I am STILL learning.
Thank You! 🤗
This is a good candidate to update it with some good parts - a set of Cathy's home-brew pickups and some better locking tuners. It certainly sounds great unplugged, which is something I learned when trying out a guitar in a shop.
That might be interesting to get one of those short fat blocks and install it in one of those skinny pot metal trems and see if it does make a difference. I know Callaham makes a drop-in block for that, but that might be overkill for a $200 guitar. But IIRC, companies like Kaish and Musiclilly make replacement short blocks in either steel or brass. Maybe you could design your own in your shop as an experiment. Might make for an interesting video.
Mine was $149, they jave an overstock for $109 at Alto Music Middletown NY. It came in a totally different box from the music store and the nut is higher up. I got mine 2 years ago
The color reminds me of The Big Daddy Roth's Weirdo car model dragsters and the Rat Fink . One of the colors was called " SICK PINK " !
I bought a Kramer Baretta Special (the cheap one) completely on a whim. Shocked at how good it actually is out of the box. The action was actually too low for my taste, but it played really well as it came with no buzz, and no jagged fret ends.
I bought one of those Danelectro U2s when they were first reissued in the 90s. It had similar lousy tuners with the two screws at opposite sides. I replaced them with a set made by Ping, which the case looked slightly larger, but the screw holes still lined up and they did the job properly that the stock tuners didn't and the build quality was noticeably superior. The Danelectro tuners were 3X3 but maybe Ping offers a 6 in line set that would fit the screw holes in that Kramer neck and will do the job adequately.
My Kramer Baretta Special kicks ass !
Hey Shaun, I've heard on other videos that at some point a few years ago, production was moved from Indonesia to China. A lot of fans of the budget Kramers have said the pickups (and pots) were actually good until the switch. Perhaps they just had the pickups too high from the factory, and you may have gotten better sounds if you had lowered them a bit, they did sound bass heavy and dull... Perhaps you can do a follow-up video where you mod this thing to be an even better 80's rocker! Keep p the good work Scarred gang! \m/
I can't believe how nice the neck is. The little bit of Birdseye? Nice. Arguing time!
The trem springs work best when in line, as it allows equal pressure for each string pull. But it doesn't matter unless you really use the trem.
Hee-haw, Talladega Nights vibes intensifying. I have a lovely Squier geetar! It's a 1982-84 Made in Japan... probably a 1962 reissue/copy. Wonderful geetar! Have had since 1987 where I bought it for 218 equivalent USD... One of the pickups died, so I bought an EMG DG-20-equipped pick guard and put that baby in, and the geetar was as good as new... better even! Hee-haw! Nice review! (jk of course) 😁
I'd send that one back and order another color to mod. I hated the red too
Hello From Hays Kansas, Sean. These Kramer guitars aren't supported by fender at all. Fender doesn't have anything to do with them. They're actually supported and owned by Gibson. This VT211S model is the only one made in China though. All the others are Indonesian made at either Cortek or Samick. I own a purple one of these from early 2020 and it's purple. It actually surprised me that it was actually decent. I'm disappointed to see this one has decreased quality. Especially considering that $200 can get someone into a really nice firefly or something. I also own and suggest you check out the Kramer Baretta Special.
Hell, Fender doesn’t support “Squiers”. And hasn’t for decades, I purchased a Kimchi P-Bass made in Korea and the truss nut soon stripped when adjusted. Tried to get some support, Fender-Squier…didn’t even so much as replied F U….I went to a US Govt contractor who specialized in parts for the military for every thing all over the world, and they didn’t have the nut. Broke their slogan, if it as made we have it. I had to buy a complete neck.
The headstock is the beak headstock. Krammer had to do this because they were making them the same as fender strat headstock. They had to change the headstock due to copy infringement, so they cut the ball off the headstocks.
Yeah, sounds like you are playing it under water. Aloha brother
No, the Kramer comes in that red/pink, a purple, a grey/silver, and a purple/blue I think. A bought a purple one for my niece that looked and played really well. I only wish she had stuck with it, but oh well.
Edit: I also picked that up for $150 from GC off the wall, not $200 from Amazon, so for $150, it was definitely worth the money.
Those pickups are hilarious!! They sound pretty funny too. Good thing you have Cathy close by to make some superior pickups for it 👍I’m sure they’ll tighten the sound up rather nicely.
Wow, those pickups are hilarious! I’d love to see Cathy crack them open for kicks on her channel!
And whoever thinks Sean doesn’t know Kramer is owned by Gibson is a knucklehead. We all mix up our words sometimes. It’s called being human. If you know everything and say everything perfectly, let’s see you start a channel and say everything perfectly 100% of the time.
I have 2 of these guitars and there is some upgrades to be had. But, overall my favorite and most comfortable guitars I own.
For $200 I wish I had that guitar as my first electric. The Pickups, tuners, and tremolo are crap. Throw a few quid at it, and ya got something. Good Review!
I have a light blue Kramer Focus
I'm pretty sure that pinkish-red/reddish-pink color is the old classic"Salmon Pink". We had a Ford Falcon in that color in the early 1960s. Leo Fender used automotive paint on his guitars way back in the early days.
Great video Sean! I have 2 Kramers, a 82 Pacer and 84 Beretta both made in the USA. They both have original Floyd Rose tremolo and Seymour Duncan pickups and they're great guitars. I've thought about buying a new Kramer Striker but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
how to set pickup height on a HSS stratocaster?
There's screws on the side of pickups. Righty = up, left = down.
Ask and you shall receive! Thanks
I have the pewter grey from Sweetwater. I loved mine after switching it out with some pickups and black pickguard from Amazon.
Middle and neck pickup is fourth position not second.
That black burst reaper is nice.
I have a focus from the early 90's and it's totally different then this floyd bridge rosewood board different headstock tuners and pups 😂
Do those farty pickups pick up 60 c/s hum or is that sorta phased away into the background?
Reason I ask is: if it stops a lot of single coil pickup noise then all it needs are pedals to fatten that sound up.
Reasoning: almost everybody has fuzz, overdrive, ... pickups aint what they used to be
I have a teal one that I modded it's a great guitar really nice neck for the price!
Wasn't surprised that it would be that bad. Definitely not worth $200. before the recent price increases that guitar was $129.99, then went up to $149. BTW, in the Kramer community we refer to that color as pepto bismol pink : )
Why not disect those pickups and see how they were made and from what,?it would be interesting to know.
That’s a good idea for a @ScarMyPickups video!
@scarmyguitar do you think a laser etched serial number is a good thing or a bad thing? I'm starting to build my own, and it seemed like a good idea at the time, since my handwriting isn't as good as the folks at PRS :D
Better get Kathy pickups
As regards the color, it looks very much like the Fiesta red Strat that Hank Marvin used to play; that color used to be the holy grail years ago!
Basically it’s reasonably well made but with crappy bits - I wouldn’t even but it to mod, especially when you can get a decent Jet for a lot less!
You must do another video where you fix those dents in the body and put good pickups in it.. Please.
Well done evaluation, nicely balanced. It is interesting with the tremolo blocks because I was recently replacing one and it measures 39mm and the orginal was about 35mm with the thin body, the tremolo springs protrude slightly so I am waiting on one with a 36mm block. So are you planning to upgrade the Kramer since the body and neck seem to be good but the tuners and pickups seem to be the problem?
I'd add some neodymium magnets since it has the room. It oughta liven it up.
I've got an old pre fender Kramer, it is a great guitar, on that guitar you would definitely have to upgrade all the electronics, at least the bones are good
The Fender knobs look better than the ones that came with it. I have a 1986 Kramer Focus 3000 w/ a Floyd Rose. HSS. Sounds and plays great.
Those old guitars had killer pickups in em. Red bobbin single coils that did sound awesome with a the humbucker with alnico slugs and mini switch, awesome guitar !
I bought a Kramer Assault when they first came out and I really like it, but I don't think it was worth the 500 dollar price tag, I don't think I'll be buying another Kramer anytime soon,not after seeing the high tech high power pick ups they are using now.
For a moment there I thought I saw Curly Resurrected. And that's exactly how I felt about that pickup!.. put on "Cathy Tone".... Cathy "El Ka-bong Tone!"
That sounds like a tin can kinda punny. It sounds strong without the amp. Thanks again for these episodes! Hopefully we will see you in a few hours. Love y’all
I bought one of those two years ago. I’ve got a Jackson a fender a lp and 335 and I honestly pick up the Kramer more. Only thing I’ve done to it is locking tuners and made it a hard tail. Mine came from good ole guitar center and the specs say alnico 5 magnets are used. Mine sounds nothing like that. I’m sorry you got a dud but I still love your videos big guy. Hey try out guitar fetish guitars. There pretty decent. I love there quick connect easy change pickups.
Technically, the springs should be parallel so the stress is evenly distributed. But it's not that important, and I don't use a whammy bar, anyway.
I noticed the don't throw in garbage sticker where the tuners are...
That's a sure sign to swap them ASAP 😅
"......they could use that metal to make somethin' else" 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Yah Shawn I rented out one of those Kramer Guitars From Long&McQuade here in Alberta Canada, I did'nt Have it for very long because i thought they were garbage, even for a entry-level guitar. Even the Kramer Beretta Special Kicks that guitars ass for a beginner guitar, and those sell for $329 Canadian, which is probably about $240 American. However I never did buy this guitar also. Great Review And Keep Rocking!
How have you not ordered a Donner series guitar to review?
See Y'all Tonight if I don't Die from Laughing so hard over the Itty Bitty Pickups & the Pepto Pink Paint job, 🤣🤣🤣
Ha, I have this guitar. I love playing it. I have other guitars but this one wants to scream. Surprised for the low price. It was a gift from my wife and I'm thrilled.
Nice Pepto Bismol Pink.
The pickups suck! And I saw those knurled knobs and I thought the same thing. Those pickups are awful! I have seen rail mag pickups, but what in the world? Were the humbuckers made the same way. I double checked my Silvertone ones and they are full size single coils with over .125-.187 thick full slab magnets. I wish I had a double humbucker pickguard and pots for the Cathybuckers. But I think I have a pretty good Strat, it’s a 9.5 neck but with 9-42s I can bend 1.5 steps at the 14 th fret. I used be able to bend 2 there but arthritis I guess. Dude WTF is wrong with Gibson? Are their Soapbar P-90s built like that? The ones in that Epiphone I gave granddaughter are weak that neck is really skinny. I think a two Humbucker Strat is what I need to build. I’m trying to find a good hull and get a twin H pickguard wired up, Just a hard tail bridge and a good thick neck. Man $200 for that one is pretty bad. If I found a hull I d paint it Silver, and put a twin H and a toggle. I wish they would make a pickguard with knobs down where a. Tele has them. I wanted a G style guitar but I don’t have the ability to do what you did to that Special. Plus I have never liked a Gibson scale, I’ve always liked the 25.5 scale better. But if I find an Epiphone bolt on neck LP Special, I am going to at least try to get a neck like you did with the big frets and some heft. Put an ABR1 and tail from Wilkinson like I did on my granddaughters guitar.
Didn't or doesn't Gibson produce a line of higher-end Kramer's made in Nashville? They also own the original Tobias bass brand and seemed to have drastically cheapened it and I believe even incorporated some models into the Epiphone line (they might have actually shelved the Tobias brand name all together). Michael Tobias has since been making boutique bases again under MTD.
The Kramer Pacer I had in the late 80s had the same headstock.
Eddie had the same head stock on his kramer in the Jump video.
Sean I think Kramer is owned by Gibson
Keep on telling it like it is brother I'll keep on watching you do it
Played one of these at Guitar Center a few months ago. Felt and pkayed ok but just couldnt get into that color!🤣
They do have a tuners that fits those holes perfectly.
It's not a fake single coil, is just different design of it.
Actually, they sound pretty good.
Have you checked out a Squire Debut yet? If so I want to check out YOUR review for a $120 guitar owned by Fender.
czcams.com/video/uql9tV1BLSw/video.html&t
@@scarmyguitar Thx
I don't understand why Gibson bought the name Kramer. I got a Kramer in 1986. I couldn't get a good sound out of that guitar for nothing. I sanded down because I wanted to know what kind of wood it was. PLYWOOD! I threw it in the fire place and had a fire. A hot one too
Kramer is Gibson Sean. I know it was made in the Epiphone factory, the serial number says so.
Hey Sean, You should of bought the "Kramer Baretta" Its an Affordable Crazy good Guitar with just a Single Humbucker, they are Awesome
Wow, I've got that same Winchester Bowie knife to open cheap guitars with during Walmart's Christmas sell. Enjoyimg your show.
Thanks for outting yet another unworthy noise maker.
Appreciate you both. See ya tonight.
There are lots of other California cut guitars out there that puts the lower Fender line to shame tbh I'd rather buy an old MIJ clone
Yep Kramer has done that headstock ever since the lawsuit with Fender over the previous Strat lookin headstock. This one is usually tagged as a " Beak" headstock. That thing still aint a Kramer though... its just a name Gibson bought. Kramer died in Jersey long ago. The single coils arent so bad.. they just stood the magnet up under some poles instead of putting it under the bobbin. Dont mean they sound good though lol
WOW! that nice lookun guitar needs a little help in the tron aspect. Thanks for the demo
Hey! Some of my favorite things are pink!
Sean, hey don't you know the Kramers are made .....over seas lol just messing wit ya. Hopscotch UMP tuners will cover all them holes!! That color looks good on you. For Realz doh. I have one of the purple 1 pickup Kramers, and other then the crap pickup and volume pot that starts working at 9. And not a sec before 9.
Still your #1 fan from Alabama.
Oh and you can call me BEAN.
LOAD it with Cathy's pickups!!!!;
Sorry if I misspelled her name.
Oh Sean you should check out
ICON PLATES . They are awesome and can really personalize all the bolt on neck AXES. Well all with the standard 4 bolt/screw pattern. 😅 and I'm not sponsored by them I just love them!!
Bye brother
Isn’t Kramer currently owned by Gibson
looks like Fuchsia Pink. Nice.
Would be great for someone's first mod project!
Awesome guitar, but I'd totally replace the pickups with EMGs or even Fishman Fluence.
Did try this Focus & end up getting myself a Squire Bullet Strat
So Squire makes a crap guitar with good pickups and Kramer makes a good guitar with crap pickups. Be nice if either of them could get their sh*t together. That said, you can always make a good guitar with crap pickups work better than the other way around.
Have to wonder how much they save going rock bottom on the tuners or pickups? The tuner and pickup aftermarket folks must love these cheap guitar builders.
I confess to never having seen a pickup quite like that single coil. The design was like a lipstick tube pickup with a Strat-like flatwork over it to make the whole thing look like a regular Strat pickup. I doubt that there is a pickup in my whole collection of guitar junk as bad as those things! Would cheap, but decently designed and constructed, pickups raise the cost of those guitars that much? Jackson's been doing a great job for the last few years without junk pickups! I mean, I personally wouldn't fret too much, since I need more practice with a soldering iron anyway, but not everyone mods guitars, dang it!
I think thats how g&l does some of their pickups, having a bar magnet instead of rods, and those actually sound awesome
İts my first guitar and ive been thinking about this for 4 months thanks. But that guitar iş perfect for mods.
Beautiful color Cathy! Nice video Sean.
No one likes these. You need to start at the Baretta Special when it comes to Kramer. The included pickup in those is excellent.
Great job thanks 🙏 you 😊
I like the grey one.